Tuesday, May 31, 2011

There are a lot of RWA chapters that will despise me for saying this, but the truth is not all contests are created equal. Many are well-organized, offer excellent training, have talented published judges donating time to read, and will provide feedback you will be grateful for. Many are also downright horrible, with no solid deadlines—aside from when they need your money and entry, rarely have requests for the full from final judges, and have high entry fees giving little back in return.

Deciding to enter or picking which contest at $25-30 per entry per contest can be daunting.

Diving in blindly is not always best. I learned this the hard way in the very first contest I entered in December 2009. Yes, I was completely unprepared for the scathing remarks I received from one judge. And yes, I was somewhat vindicated by glowing comments from two others.

Out of 105 points, one published judge gave me a 104, another published judge gave me a perfect 105. An unpublished judge knocked me out of the finals with a mind-blowing 70. In the event of a 25 point or higher gap between the lowest scores, a fourth discrepancy judge was supposed to read the entry. The coordinator failed to notice my 34 point gap and neglected to assign a fourth judge. The Finalist list was announced and posted on the website before I had even received my scores. Trust me when I say no contest coordinator wants egg on their face by publicly admitting they screwed up, forcing them to send out a new Finalist list. It makes the contest look bad, it makes the coordinator look bad, and it’s just bad all around.

I was given an apology and eventually, a fourth judge, but I knew what to expect. A score that was higher than a 70, but low enough to keep me out of the finals. And that’s precisely what I received. I handled it with dignity and thanked the coordinator for her assistance. I swallowed my bitterness as part of the learning process and moved on.

Lesson: Coordinators are human and mistakes will happen. Handling a disappointing outcome with grace and dignity will ALWAYS serve you better than anger or disrespect.

After riding the contest circuit for a few months, I received a set of score sheets where the coordinator had crossed out the total score and written a new score in a different color. The first round judges had miscalculated the total score. I still didn’t make the finals by two points, arrgh, but it was nice to know someone was paying attention. Out of stinging curiosity, I checked score sheets from previous contests and discovered miscalculations are common, while astute coordinators with the time to double check are rare.

Lesson: Judges are also human and not all can add or have the sense to use a calculator. When you receive your score sheets, make sure the total at the bottom or top is correct. You’ll be surprised how often they’re wrong.

In one contest that shall also remain unnamed, I never even received feedback for one of my entries. After paying $25 and anxiously waiting months, I didn’t get a single score sheet for one entry. This contest increased its entry fee this year, if you can believe it. Rest assured, I will not recommend it.

Lesson: All contests are fundraisers for chapters and writing groups. Ask around to make sure you are spending your money wisely.

As you read the rules for a contest, you might notice this statement: Double-spaced, no more than 25 lines per page. Some contests literally mean you can have 25 lines on a page, which technically is not double-spaced. Others mean, double-spaced only, which is no more than 24 lines. Another lesson learned the hard way.

Upon receiving an email from a coordinator stating my pages were not double-spaced. I promptly pointed out the rules allowed up to 25 lines, highlighting the text from their website, and asked, “How can you format a double-spaced page to get 25 lines?” I never received an answer, but did change the entry. I kindly asked if they could fix the rules on their website to reflect 24 lines as it would make it easier on future contestants. A year later, they never bothered to change the rules on their website. This tells me the coordinators aren’t concerned with accuracy or making life simpler for entrants.

Lesson: Read the rules carefully and make enquiries well in advance of the deadline. If it is a well-organized contest, you will receive a response in less than a week, in most cases sooner.

Some judges will be hard, while still offering constructive feedback. Some are middle of the road, giving mediocre feedback with no comments. These judges often leave me scratching my head, wondering why a 3? One line of feedback would’ve made the difference between a useful score sheet and a waste of paper. Other judges will be nasty and cruel, hiding specks of worthy criticism in a dung heap of insults.

Lesson: Sift the chaff from the wheat in the judges’ remarks. No matter how ugly an anonymous judge may be with their remarks, don’t take it personally. Your book is a product you want to sell, not your baby, even if you love it. Prepare yourself for the contest gauntlet by coming to terms with this and try to find a glimmer of constructive criticism in every score sheet, even the ones covered in manure.

When I first started entering contests, my only objective was feedback. As I realized my writing wasn’t crap and judges actually enjoyed my work (they like me, they really like me), I decided to enter based on the final judge. Always make sure it is an agent or editor. Contests receive double points from me if both an agent and editor read your work in the finals, triple points if they throw in a bookseller.

Knowing your objective will help you determine which contests to choose. If you have your sights locked in on a small press or electronic publisher, then target those as final judges.

I wanted an agent first, so I targeted both agents and select publishers I wanted. You should not want just any agent or any editor. Do your research on Publisher’s Marketplace to find an agent or editor you hope is right for you.

By drumming up interest from an editor from a large NY publishing house, you will also receive interest from some agents. If an editor requests the full and enjoys it, this will also give you leverage in the agent hunt. Be careful when sending out your work to an editor. You only have one chance to make a good first impression.

Perhaps making the finals or winning is your only concern in order to beef up the credentials section of your query letter. Then target contests and categories with a smaller number of entries or those running low on entries. Play the numbers game. Many paranormal entries have suspense elements and the romantic suspense category is often a good choice as paranormal tends to receive lots of entries. I discovered this when I entered the WisRWA Fab Five and the paranormal category was full. The coordinator asked me if I wanted a refund or would like to try a different category. I chose romantic suspense and took second place.

Lesson: Contests are expensive. The cost of entering multiple contests adds up quickly. Don’t waste money or time entering contests that won’t meet your objectives. Know what you want before you click the yellow paypal button.

In part two, I’ll tell you my resource for finding contests, give a list of the ones I highly recommend, and share my best lesson learned. Some contests I’ve finaled in didn’t make the cut on my favorite list and others I’ve never finaled in did. Be sure to join me to find out why!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

The first time I heard about Twitter was on The View. Yes, I live under a rock the majority of the time. To give myself a smidge of credit it was three years ago. Sherri Shepherd had set up her twitter account earlier in the week. Bubbly and excited, she couldn’t stop gushing over the social media tool and I was just as confused as Barbara Walters about what in the heck was a tweet.

When Twitter first launched in 2006 very few people understood its value. How in the devil did you use it? And who in the world would care about what you were doing unless you were a celebrity? Fast forward several years later, the Twitter craze is sweeping the world, sort of the way Facebook did.

Track celebrities, stay connected with family, make new friends, or promote your products any minute of the day. Many of your favorite authors tweet, giving you glimpses into their books, writing process, or even into their lives. However, I can’t help wonder if Twitter really makes a difference in sales.

I’m sure most of you have heard of Amanda Hocking, a self-publishing phenomenon. If you haven’t and you’re an aspiring author, then clearly I’m not the only one living under a rock. A young woman self-published a series of books and maximized her use of Facebook and Twitter to promote them. In less than two years, she was able to earn enough from her sales, under $2 per e-book, to quit her day job, signed with an agent and has a movie deal. A self-proclaimed obsessive tweeter, Hocking has admitted that it took a great deal of effort and time, and the promotion was exhausting.

Success stories such as Hocking’s are inspiring. They show us what is possible and uplift us with hope. Will the vast majority of fledgling authors, self-published or traditionally published, achieve this level of success even if they tweet? The sad reality is no. Whether or not it’s due to the fact they are misusing their tweets or the book simply wasn’t strong enough is up for debate.

What I do know is that there are many authors who have achieved success without Twitter. I had the chance to ask Carrie Vaughn, a bestselling author, if she thought Twitter was crucial to sell books. Guess what? Vaughn doesn’t tweet and she thinks she’s doing quite well without it. Even JR Ward has stated tweeting is not essential. Although Ward set up a Twitter account last year, she only had one tweet the last time I checked. She’s probably too busy writing.

If there’s a chance tweeting might make a difference in future sales, and if after we’ve written the best book possible it all comes down to sales, then why am I hesitant to jump in the midst of the Twitter frenzy?

Writing takes time. Writing a great book takes a great deal of time and revising takes even more. Throw in the edits required from your publisher, promotion that has been proven to increase sales, research, writing your next book, not to mention life beyond writing, and Twitter starts to look like a huge waste of time spent, well, socializing.

How many writers spend hours on Twitter every day and write things like, “I should be working right now instead of tweeting”? It makes me wonder if Twitter is really increasing their sales, building future readership, or just an addictive distraction sidetracking them from their primary objective—writing.

There will be the Amanda Hockings who show us what incredible things are possible with Twitter. There are also the Stephenie Meyers and JK Rowlings who have shown us it’s possible without Twitter. On the journey to publication, and even after you are published, there will always be something to compete for your time. If you plan on being a successful author, publishing multiple books, and selling, then you have to decide what’s the best use of your time every waking hour.

I’m not on Twitter and admit I’m a little intimidated by the tweeting whirlwind. Yet, if it does have a significant impact on the sales of many authors, specifically debut and midlist, then I’m more than willing to give it a shot. So, I’m asking for all those out there who do tweet to help me make an educated decision I hope I won’t regret.

How much time do you really spend tweeting every day?

Do you think it will help you increase readership and sales?

How long do you think it will take before you reap the benefits from Twitter?

As a reader, has an author’s tweets persuaded you to buy their book?

For a pre-pubbed author like me, is Twitter a savvy business tool or is it a social tool draining time?